NESTORS. 



93 



long tails of the macaws, and the more slender tails of the Indian parraquets ; the 

 fine crests of the cockatoos ; the swift flight of many of the smaller species, and the 

 graceful motions of the little love-birds and allied forms ; together with their affec- 

 t innate natures, aptitude for domestication, and powers of mimicry, combine to 

 render them at once the most conspicuous and the most attractive of all the specially 

 tropical forms of bird-life." 



As is so generally the case with arboreal fruit-eating birds, the prevalent 

 colour among the parrots is green. This is, however, frequently relieved by patches, 

 bands, or spots or other hues ; while in certain groups or species it is replaced by 

 blue, yellow, cinnamon, crimson, white, and occasionally black. Judging from the 

 characters of the skeleton, it appears to us that the nearest allies of the parrots 

 are the owls. They may, however, have some kinship with the diurnal birds of 

 pivv, and possibly with some of the Picarians. According to the arrangement 

 proposed by Count Salvador!, who has paid special attention to this group of birds, 

 the parrots may be divided into five families, of which first is the 



NESTOR PARROTS. 

 Family NESTORID^. 



Under the common title of nestors may be included a small group of peculiar 

 parrots confined to New Zealand and certain neighbouring islands, all of which 

 belong to a single genus (Nestor), and one of which is known to the Maories as the 

 Kea and the other as the Kaka. The nestors belong to an assemblage of three 

 families of the order, characterised by the under surface of the hook of the beak 

 being either smooth or merely marked by some fine longitudinal lines. As a 

 family they are distinguished by the more or less elongated beak being much 

 compressed, and longer than deep, with the middle line (culm en) of its upper 

 moiety marked by a longitudinal groove, while the profile of the symphysis of the 

 lower mandible slopes upwards to the tip with scarcely any curvature. The tip of 

 the tongue is provided with a fringe of fine hairs ; and the cere of the beak is 

 partially feathered. All the feathers are soft ; those situated at the base of the 

 lower mandibles are hairy, and project forwards; and the rectrices of the tail 

 have pointed shafts projecting beyond the vane. The metatarsus is longer than 

 usual ; and the bony ring round the socket of the eye is incomplete. The 

 nestors are represented by four well-defined species, two of which are now extinct. 

 Of these the kea (Nestor notabilis), which is restricted to the South Island 

 of New Zealand, has the general hue of the plumage dull olive-green, with black 

 edges to the feathers. There is no yellow band across the breast, and the under- 

 parts are olive-brown without any tinge 'of red; orange-red is, however, present on 

 the under- wing coverts and axillaries. The wing - feathers are dusky brown, 

 the primaries having the outer web bluish, and the inner one toothed with lemon- 

 yellow. The tail is bluish orange, with a broad transverse band of blackish brown 

 near the end : the inner webs of the feathers being toothed with yellow. In size 

 the kea may be compared to a raven ; its total length being 19 inches, of which 

 If is taken up by the bill. The kaka (N. meridionalis), which inhabits both 



